Donald Trump says Iran should negotiate ‘before it’s too late’

Leaders of the G7 summit struggled to find common ground as Donald Trump issued a warning to Iran. Follow updates.

Donald Trump on Monday warned Iran, which Israel is pounding, to re-enter negotiations “before it’s too late” as Group of Seven leaders considered a joint call for de-escalation.

Host Canada had designed the summit in the Rockies resort of Kananaskis to paper over differences within the bloc of major industrial democracies, as Mr Trump returns to the global stage in his norm-shattering second term.

But two days before the summit, Israel launched a surprise, massive military attack on Iran, which had been in negotiations with the Trump administration over the cleric-run state’s contested nuclear program.

President Trump, who has praised Israel’s strikes despite his stated preference for diplomacy, said he believed a negotiated settlement remained “achievable.”

“It’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late,” Mr Trump told reporters as he met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hold a bilateral meeting during the G7 Leaders' Summit on June 16, 2025 in Kananaskis, Alberta. Picture: Getty Images via AFP

Israel has killed leading commanders and nuclear scientists in Iran, which has responded with its own volley of drones and missiles on Israel.

On Monday afternoon, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was pursuing the objectives against Iran that are being “well coordinated with the United States,” he said.

Canada and European leaders have looked to draft a statement on the crisis, although it looks set to stop short of demanding a ceasefire.

Leaders will discuss the statement Monday evening, a diplomat said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that G7 leaders share concern about Iran’s nuclear program but there is “absolutely a focus on how we de-escalate this and that will be a central focus as we go into the talks.”

The summit at a wooded resort under still snow-topped mountains comes after months of tumult on the global stage since Mr Trump’s return.

President Trump, seeking to shatter a decades-old US-led global economic order, has vowed sweeping tariffs on friends and foes alike although he has postponed implementation until July 9.

US President Donald Trump looks on as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks as they meet during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump has also mocked host Canada, imposing economic pressure and repeatedly stating that the vast but less populated neighbour should become the 51st US state.

Mr Trump said he was optimistic about reaching a solution on trade as he met Mr Carney, a former central banker who has appeared to win more respect from the US leader since succeeding the flashier Justin Trudeau in March.

“I’m a tariff person,” Mr Trump told Mr Carney.

“It’s simple, it’s easy, it’s precise, and it just goes very quickly.”

“I think Mark has a more complex idea, but also very good.”

Speaking ahead of the bilateral meeting with Mr Mark Carney, Mr Trump was asked what the barriers were to a trade deal with his northern neighbour.

“I have a tariff concept, Mark has a different concept,” Mr Trump said.

“We’re going to see if we can get to the bottom of it today.”

The President said an agreement was still achievable within days or weeks.

Mr Trump’s last G7 appearance in 2018 was a tense affair and produced a viral image of then German Chancellor Angela Merkel standing over a defiant Mr Trump seated with his arms crossed.

It captured the division among the group that came amid tariff disputes and ended with a spectacular spray from Mr Trump on board Air Force One as he departed the event blasting host country PM Justin Trudeau as “weak and dishonest”.

Leaders at the event are seeking to avoid a similar fallout at this week’s meeting but Mr Trump’s first press conference indicates he has no plans to mince words.

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TRUMP ORDER ICE TO STEP UP DEPORTATIONS IN ‘DEMOCRAT’ CITIES

US President Donald Trump announced plans to flood Democrat-run cities, namely New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, with new, larger waves of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to bring about the “single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”

Mr Trump highlighted the sweeping change targeting the majority-Democrat cities on Truth Social Sunday night as he praised ICE agents for their “incredible strength, determination, and courage.”

“In order to achieve this, we must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside,” Mr Trump wrote.

“These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens.”

A Jamaican man is detained by federal agents after his immigration court hearing at the Ted Weiss Federal Building on June 9, 2025 in New York City. Picture: AFP

Republican-run states like Texas, which is home to five of the largest cities in America, including Houston and San Antonio, were notably left out of the president’s post.

None of the Lone Star State’s big urban centres, however, call themselves “sanctuary cities.”

“These Radical Left Democrats are sick of mind, hate our Country, and actually want to destroy our Inner Cities — And they are doing a good job of it!” the commander in chief added in his post.

“And that is why I want ICE, Border Patrol, and our Great and Patriotic Law Enforcement Officers, to FOCUS on our crime ridden and deadly Inner Cities, and those places where Sanctuary Cities play such a big role. You don’t hear about Sanctuary Cities in our Heartland!”

Mr Trump previously pledged that “changes are coming” last week after admitting that his administration’s crackdown on immigration was massacring key American industries — namely farming and hospitality.

The Department of Agriculture estimates that nearly half of the 850,000 crop workers in the United States are undocumented, putting America’s food supply chain at risk of total collapse if all are deported.

ZELENSKY WILL DISCUSS BUYING US WEAPONS WITH TRUMP

Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday said that he will discuss buying US weapons with Donald Trump at the G7 summit, but added that US military aid was not on the agenda.

“We are not talking to America today about new assistance. Indeed, one of the issues I will discuss with President Trump at the meeting is the defence package that Ukraine is ready to buy,” Mr Zelensky said during a visit to Vienna, from where he is set to travel to Canada for this week’s G7 summit.

UK MANUFACTURERS LOOK ELSEWHERE AMID US TARIFFS

The United States is no longer a top three export market for British manufacturers in the wake of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, an industry-wide survey has revealed.

For the first time since 1988, when manufacturers’ organisation Make UK began such a poll, the United States is not “the second most favoured destination for export growth … behind the EU”, a statement said.

The world’s biggest economy “has slipped to fourth place as a growth market for UK manufacturers, with preference now shown to Asia/Oceania and the Middle East as companies respond to tariffs and increased uncertainty”, it added.

The latest quarterly survey of 324 companies was carried out between April 30 and May 22, together with financial advisory group BDO.

Monday’s survey revealed also that 60 per cent of UK manufacturers expect their export volumes to the United States to be hit by the levies.

“Furthermore, almost a third of companies are assessing changes to their supply chains in terms of where they source from, while just four per cent say they will consider setting up manufacturing facilities in the US.”

Official data last week showed Britain’s economy shrank more than expected in April – in part owing to a record drop in exports to the United States.

A recent trade agreement struck between the UK and US failed to result in the tariffs being removed.

- with AFP and The New York Post